Iowa Culture and Language Conference set for February
The annual Iowa Culture and Language Conference will be held Feb. 9 and 10, 2010, at Polk County Convention Complex in Des Moines, Iowa. A pre-conference will be on Feb. 8. This year's theme is "Rooted to Grow: Diverse Learners in the 21st Century."
Eight speakers have been invited to speak at next year's conference, including Mawi Asgedom, who has written four books that are used in thousands of classrooms across North America and spoken to over 500,000 students and educators. A nationally recognized youth educator, Mawi is the founder of Mental Karate, a training organization that challenges youth to create their own inspiring journeys.
As a child, Mawi fled civil war in Ethiopia and survived a Sudanese refugee camp for three years. After being resettled in the U.S., Mawi overcame welfare, language barriers and personal tragedy to graduate from Harvard University.
Since 1999, Mawi has dedicated himself to uplifting America’s teenagers. Mawi's best-selling memoir, "Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy’s Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard," has been read as a one-book, one-community reading selection by hundreds of schools and communities including the cities of Philadelphia and Green Bay. His teen-success guides, "The Code, Win the Inner Battle," and "Nothing is Impossible," have also been used in thousands of classrooms. Citing the impact of his work, The Illinois Association of Teachers of English named Mawi the 2006 Illinois Author of the Year.
Mawi has hosted a yearlong teen series on PBS Chicago and many
prominent media outlets have featured him including:
- The Oprah Winfrey Show
- ESSENCE, one of "The 40 Most Inspiring African-Americans"
- Ebony, one of "30 Black Leaders Under 30"
- Chicago Tribune
- The Boston Globe
- Harvard Magazine
The mission of the annual event is to advocate for culturally and/or linguistically diverse students and their families, educators and service providers. Northwest Area Education Agency (AEA) employees coordinate and organize the event each year.
To learn more about the conference, visit http://www.nwaea.k12.ia.us/en/upcoming_events/iowa_culture_language_conference/ or contact Teresa Angerman, administrative assistant, at tangerman@nwaea.k12.ia.us.
